The medical examiner’s office has confirmed that the body discovered in a muddy wash Saturday along the Santa Clara River near 1600 S. Dixie Drive is that of Amy Marie Crawford who was reported missing in St. George last month, St. George Police Officer Lona Trombley confirmed Wednesday.

Crawford’s body was found lying in mud, tumbleweeds and debris next to the Santa Clara River Trail after a series of thunderstorms had passed over the area.

A man had been out for a morning walk when he spotted the decomposing body and called police just after 7:30 a.m., police said.

Search and rescue crews along with cadaver dogs joined the investigation Saturday morning to help police gather evidence and process the scene before sending the body to the medical examiner’s office for identification of the deceased woman.

“We believe that she was washed downstream sometime within the last few days and they are working to locate any evidence,” Trombley said at the scene Saturday, adding that it was unknown how long the woman had been dead.

Crawford had been reported missing to the St. George Police Department in July. According to police, the last known reported contact with the 32-year-old mother was on June 22. However, some of Crawford’s close friends said she was last seen on July 7.

Family and friends had grown increasingly concerned when Crawford had not reached out to her 4-year-old daughter, which they said was completely out of her character, police said.

Police said the cause of Crawford’s death remains under investigation.

“All investigations such as this, we look at as worst case scenario until we determine that it is not,” Trombley said Saturday. “That helps us to do the best investigation that we can which is, of course, our top priority out of respect for her and for her family and our community.”

According to Utah court documents, Crawford struggled with drug addiction. Crawford had been released from the Washington County Purgatory Correctional Facility in June to receive treatment for her addiction, according to court records.

On April 5, while Crawford was incarcerated, her mother passed away, which friends of Crawford said was especially hard on her.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by Utah officials or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

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St. George Police respond to the scene where a woman's body was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

St. George Police respond to the scene where a woman's body was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

Investigators scour the scene where a body was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

The decomposing body of a woman was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

Authorities investigate the scene where a body was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

Authorities investigate the scene where a body was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

Investigators comb the scene for evidence after a body was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

Authorities investigate the scene where a body was found by hikers along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

The body of a woman was found by a man walking along the Santa Clara River Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

A man walking on the Santa Clara River Trail located the decomposing body of a woman lying in a wash next to the trail near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

The body of a woman was found by a man walking along the Santa Clara River Trail Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

The body of a woman was found by a man walking along the Santa Clara River Trail Saturday morning near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

Investigators cleared mud and debris from the area where a woman's body was found lying in a wash next to the Santa Clara River Trail near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

Investigators cleared mud and debris from the area where a woman's body was found lying in a wash next to the Santa Clara River Trail near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

Looking upstream from a muddy wash where a woman's body was found lying next to the Santa Clara River Trail near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

Upstream from a muddy wash where a woman's body was found lying next to the Santa Clara River Trail near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

Tunnels that drain water into a wash where a woman's body was found lying next to the Santa Clara River Trail near 1600 S. Dixie Drive, St. George, Utah, Aug. 5, 2017 | Photo by Michael Durrant, St. George News

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About the Author

Kimberly Scott is a lifetime resident of Southern Utah. In 2013, Kimberly joined St. George News as a vital member of its editing, reporting and administrative team. She is passionate about engaging communities through writing and is dedicated to providing complete and accurate coverage of both anticipated and breaking news.

If the body was too decomposed to identify a cause of death, like an obvious bullet wound to the skull, then it may never be revealed what happened to her or a cause of death. If they can’t even come up with a time frame of death that is probably a very decomposed body. It’s a bad situation all around. We hope there isn’t murders and dumping bodies in river beds like this right here in mormon mayberry, but it’s very possible there is. At least the family can put her to rest now.

-she could’ve been murdered on the trail there and dragged down by the river bed into the foliage
-she could’ve been murdered somewhere else and dumped down by the river bed
-she could’ve OD’d on heroin or w/e else and died down by the river bed in the foliage

These are things we need answers to. Hopefully sgpd is competent enough to figure it all out.